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Maryland: It's going to be a historic US presidential election.
Either way- Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump- this will be an unprecedented
event. However, there will be some things which won't be unprecedented.

Yes we are talking about the swing states. Patrick Butler at the
International Centre For Journalists in Washington DC is of the view that as in
the past, the swing states are going to be crucial in the polls, " Forget
about California, Texas or even Maryland. Everyone knows how they will
vote," Butler told a group of journalists on Friday.

According to the UK based express.co, the United States is
traditionally split between the Republicans and the Democrats. Quoting the
Economic Intelligence Unit, the express.co says that there were nine key states
that could swing the fortunes of Clinton or Trump. They are: Florida, North
Carolina, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia,
The one getting 270 of the 538 electoral college votes across the US will succeed Barack Obama.
"Florida is the most important state to watch as it has a whopping 29
electoral college votes on offer, " Joseph Lake, head of forecasting at of
Economic Intelligence said in an article written by Alice Foster for
express.co.

Lake was also quoted saying that it
was a big state and could determine the fate of election. " Obama won
Florida by less than 1% of the vote in 2012. George W Bush was dramatically
handed the presidency after a controversial recount in Florida in 2000,"
according to UK based website express.co.uk.

Sub head: Why swing
states are crucial ?

New
Hampshire, a tiny state may have just four votes in the electoral college, but
Democrat Tim Kaine, the vice presidential candidate, was back here for his
third visit in five weeks. At back-to-back campaign appearances, Hillary
Clinton’s running mate offered a blunt reason for why.

“This race is close,” the Virginia senator, according to
Washington Post, said at a rally Thursday in this picturesque New England town.
“I would rather be us right now than them. I think we have a more
straightforward path to win and they have a more complicated path. But [there
is] nothing to take for granted because, let’s be honest, it’s been a season of
surprises.”

To many Democrats, the biggest surprise is that Donald Trump has
mounted a comeback. Despite being battered all summer by his own missteps as
well as a barrage of attack ads from Clinton, the Republican nominee has been
surging in the battleground states.

Public
polls over the past week show Trump leading Clinton in Ohio, Florida and Iowa;
moving into a virtual tie with her in Nevada and North Carolina; and cutting
into what had been comfortable Clinton leads in New Hampshire as well as
Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Prof Ernesto Calvo, Deptt of Govt and Politics, University of Maryland
Dr David Burns, Associate Professor Dept. of Communication Arts at Salisbury University spoke on the significance of swing states

Democrat Senator from College Park, Jim Rosapepe on swing states

Sub Head: The Presidential Debate effect on the swing states

The effect of the first poll face-off between Clinton and Trump on September 26 night would surprise many, particularly when a majority of the people on the social and other media believed that Clinton put Trump on defensive at the New York presidential debate. North Carolina's Charlotte Observer on Tuesday reported that Clinton lost ground "among some voters" in the swing state of North Carolina.According to the Charlotte Observer, it gathered 21 mostly undecided NC voters to watch the Monday night debate. Their reporters, Tim Funk and David Lightman then led a discussion streamed in real time via Facebook Live after the debate ended. This is what the newspaper reported. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article104382951.html

Sub Head: More Swing Surprises ?

That's not the end of it. About seven hours before the presidential debate, the United Press International (UPI) came up with a state poll tracker which said that both the candidates were neck and neck as their leads were narrow - 5 % or less in 12 states to classify them as swing states, meaning 156 electoral votes could be up for grabs. " If the battleground states were not counted, the race would be tied 191-191. Just one swing state,Florida with 29 votes, could shift to give Clinton enough electoral college votes to win, 275- 265. Or switching Pennsylvania with 20 votes and Virginia with 13 would have her prevailing even more, 279-259,'' the UPI/C-Voter state poll said.

It further said that each candidate leads in six of the battleground states. Donald Trump leads in Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia while Clinton is ahead in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.